5.  The applicant was born in 1956 and lives in Chernyanka, a village in Belgorod Region.
6.  On 10 October and 16 November 2007 criminal proceedings were instituted against the management of the Kristall-Group holding (“the holding”) under Articles 176 § 1 (loan fraud) and 159 § 3 (fraud) of the Criminal Code.
7.  On 18 November 2007 criminal proceedings were instituted against the applicant, director general of the holding, on suspicion of fraud and loan fraud under Articles 159 § 3 and 176 § 1 of the Criminal Code respectively. On the same day the applicant was arrested in Kursk. Criminal cases against the management of the holding were joined to the criminal case against the applicant.
8.  On the same day (18 November 2007) the investigator questioned witnesses L. and D., the applicant’s subordinates. L. claimed that the applicant had told him to temporarily leave Belgorod Region and not to divulge anything to the police. D. claimed that he feared the applicant, who was, in his opinion, capable of anything in order to evade criminal liability.
9.  On 19 November 2007 Sverdlovskiy District Court of Belgorod (“the District Court”) decided to remand the applicant in custody. The court held as follows:
“... Substantiating the request [for application of a custodial measure], the investigator indicated that [the applicant] might try to flee from the pre-trial investigation and the court, as well as obstruct the administration of justice. Those arguments have been confirmed. The court came to this conclusion for the following reasons.
When the criminal cases were opened in respect of the unlawful actions of the management of the holding, investigative actions were carried out in the course of which it was necessary to question [the applicant] ... The suspect has a permanent place of residence, employment and a family. Nevertheless, for a long time the investigating authorities could not get hold of [the applicant] either through his work, his family, or his place of residence.
The arguments advanced by the prosecution to the effect that [the applicant], using his office, exerted pressure on the witnesses in the case, have also been confirmed ...
These circumstances counter the arguments to the contrary advanced by the defence ...
In view of the above, the court considers it impossible to impose on [the applicant] any other, more lenient, preventive measure, and deems the arguments by the prosecution to be substantiated and sufficient for applying the preventive measure of detention ...”
10.  On 27 November 2007 the applicant was charged with two counts of fraudulently obtaining a loan under Article 176 § 1 of the Criminal Code.
11.  On 28 November 2007 Belgorod Regional Court (“the Regional Court”) upheld the detention order of 19 November 2007 on appeal.
12.  On 15 January, 4 March and 8 May 2008 the District Court extended the applicant’s detention until 10 March, 18 May and 18 July 2008 respectively. The court opined that the grounds for holding the applicant in custody were still valid. It considered that the risk of the applicant’s absconding or otherwise interfering with the proceedings had been supported by statements of witness L. (see paragraph 8 above) and the fact that when the police had identified the applicant’s whereabouts in Kursk he had tried to escape. The court considered and rejected other pertinent facts, such as the fact that since 8 December 2007 the applicant had no longer been director general of the holding, that the suspicion under Article 159 § 3 of the Criminal Code had been dropped, and that the applicant had a permanent place of residence, a family, and positive references. The court further held that the time spent by the applicant in detention had not exceeded the reasonable limits, that the proceedings were being conducted diligently and that less stringent preventive measures could not secure the applicant’s proper conduct during the preliminary investigation. On 22 January, 13 March and 19 May 2008 respectively, the Regional Court upheld the above extension orders on appeal.
13.  In the meantime, on 8 February 2008 criminal proceedings were instituted against the applicant under Article 199 § 2 of the Criminal Code (tax evasion), and on 4 May 2008 the applicant was charged with five counts of loan fraud and tax evasion under Articles 176 § 1 and 199 § 2 of the Criminal Code respectively.
14.  On 23 May 2008 the prosecution discontinued the criminal proceedings on suspicion of fraud under Article 159 § 3 of the Criminal Code in the absence of constituent elements of the above offence.
15.  On 28 May 2008 the applicant and his lawyer were informed that the pre-trial investigation had been terminated and were given access to the case file.
16.  On 7 July 2008 the investigator requested the court to extend the applicant’s detention. The investigator noted, in particular, that pre-trial investigation had been completed and that on 28 May 2008 the applicant had been given access to the case file, comprising one hundred volumes. However, by the end of a month he had only studied twenty-three volumes. Considering the case volume the investigator requested that the applicant’s detention be extended for at least two months.
17.  On 11 July 2008 the District Court, reiterating the reasons which prompted the application of the custodial measure to the applicant and noting the considerable volume of the case file which the applicant had been unable to study in full, extended the applicant’s detention until 18 September 2008. The Court also noted that it had failed to establish any new circumstances warranting the alteration or termination of the custodial measure. On 23 July 2008 the Regional Court upheld the above decision on appeal.
18.  On 17 September and 6 October 2008 the District Court extended the applicant’s detention pending study of the case file until 10 October and 18 November 2008 respectively, that is for a total duration of twelve months. The Court again noted the gravity of the charges against the applicant, the considerable volume of the case file, of which the applicant had read only eighty-two and ninety volumes respectively, and the absence of any grounds for altering or terminating the custodial measure. On 25 September and 20 October 2008 the Regional Court upheld the above extension orders on appeal.
19.  On 11 November 2008 the Regional Court extended the applicant’s detention pending study of the case file until 10 January 2009. The court held, in particular, that upon completion of the investigation the applicant had been given access to the case file in compliance with the time-limit set out in Article 109 § 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure; that since the applicant had not finished reading the case file before the expiry of the maximum period of detention (he had read ninety-nine volumes of the case file and studied 1,300 additional pages of material evidence, and there remained one more volume of the case file and 15,600 additional pages of material evidence to read) the provisions of Article 109 § 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure had allowed the investigator to request a further extension of the period of detention; that the grounds for application of the custodial measure persisted; that application of a less stringent preventive measure had not been possible despite the arguments put forward by the applicant; that the investigation had been particularly complex due to the volume of the case involving several episodes; that no evidence had been submitted to the effect that the applicant’s health prevented him from remaining in custody, and that the applicant had made no complaints regarding the conditions of his detention. On 23 December 2008 the Supreme Court of Russia upheld the above extension order on appeal.
20.  On 30 December 2008 the Regional Court further extended the applicant’s detention for an unlimited period of time while the applicant and his defence counsel finished studying the case file. On 24 February 2009 the Supreme Court of Russia upheld the above decision on appeal.
21.  On 16 March and 19 March 2009 respectively the applicant’s defence counsel and the applicant completed studying the case file.
22.  On 7 April 2009 the case file was remitted to the trial court.
23.  On 7 September 2009 the District Court convicted the applicant of setting up fraudulent loans and tax evasion under Articles 176 § 1 and 199 § 1 of the Criminal Code respectively and sentenced him to three years and six months’ imprisonment.
24.  On 18 November 2009 the Regional Court upheld the applicant’s conviction on appeal.
25.  The applicant challenged the compatibility with the Constitution of the provisions of Article 109 §§ 4, 7 and 8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in so far as they allowed the extension of detention “pending investigation” beyond the maximum time-limit and for an unlimited duration while the defendant read the material of the case file.
26.  On 30 January 2009 the Constitutional Court declined to examine the applicant’s complaint, relying on its findings in the case of Mr Ye. (see Relevant domestic law and practice section below).
27.  The applicant once again challenged the compatibility of Article 109 §§ 4, 7 and 8 of the Code with the Constitution. In addition to his previous concerns the applicant contended that he had been discriminated against in comparison with other detainees in respect of whom the investigation had not been completed within the authorised detention period and others who had been granted access to the case material less than one month before the expiry of the authorised detention period, and who could therefore benefit from immediate release.
28.  On 19 March 2009 the Constitutional Court declined to examine the applicant’s complaint. Reference was again made to the case of Mr Ye.